A main building at the Canadian Ecology Centre (CEC) is being named on its 20th anniversary to honour forest industry stalwart Frank Dottori.
Located within Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, west of the Town of Mattawa, the Canadian Ecology Centre is a non-profit organization providing environmental education programming.
Known as one of the founders of Tembec Inc. (now Rayonier Advanced Materials), a leading forest products producer, Dottori has been a driving force behind sustainable forestry in Canada. Within its evolution, he was an early supporter of the centre and its environmental education programs.
“It is because of Frank Dottori that the CEC is here today, and we are pleased to have his name affixed to one of our main buildings,” said Bill Steer, the centre’s general manager and originator of the concept, in a news release.
“The CEC has introduced many students and visitors to the notion we all need to Make A Difference Environmentally – what the CEC calls its MADE principle. The park’s setting, combined with innovative programs, utilizing technology, and with committed staff, has made the CEC an educational destination.”
Dottori served as president and CEO of Tembec from 1973 to 2006. He left retirement in 2013 to revitalize the former Domtar mill in White River, and in 2016 acquired the then-closed Hornepayne mill and adjoining cogeneration power plant.
He developed partnerships with area First Nations, making them part owners of the operations, offering them training, employment positions, and harvesting opportunities.
Dottori has served on a number of boards of forest sector groups, including the Tembec Environmental Committee, the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada, the Free Trade Lumber Council, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, and the Forest Sector Advisory Committee to the Government of Canada.
The CEC was initially a community-driven, economic development project initiated by the Mattawa-Bonfield region with significant contributions from FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, Tembec, Ontario Parks, the five local municipalities, benevolent foundations and others within the private and public sectors.
The CEC is a national, non-profit organization with charitable education status. Its community partners include Nipissing University, Canadore College, the Near North District School Board, and the Nipissing Parry Sound Catholic District School Board.
